Pirate Recs at spnroundtable

[xcziel]

Ahoy there!   Here be Pirate fics!  Dashing tales of desperate men, cruel fate, and forbidden romance!  Accounts of captured cabin boys, estranged families, and duels to the death! Stories of battle and bedding on the high seas!  

So, just as I was looking for some awesome fics to rec this month, two things happened.  First, I came to the dismayed realization that I desperately need to improve my tagging habits  *sheepish grin*,  and second, one of my favorite writing pairs just put the final touches on their latest WIP - one I've been following like a cat focused on a moving laser pointer. Thus I decided this batch of recs will feature bloodthirsty historical criminals, sex, and enormous amounts of h/c schmoop.  ^_^   Don't let the warnings on these fics put you off, these are not dark!fics - for the most part, they're actually intentional romances: slashy versions of good old-fashioned bodice-rippers - and everyone knows how a good romance ends!  

Blanket warnings for florid turns of phrase, innaccurate use/abuse of historical and nautical terminology, violence, mild gore, swashbuckling, thievery, naval battles, tight pants, scurvy knaves, looting, plundering, and general skulduggery.  They're pirates.   ; )





Title: Dangerous Waters
Author: virtualpersonal & brimstonegold
Pairing: Dean/Sam
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: bodicetrouser-ripper, violence, past abuse, non-con, bondage, dark themes, flogging, incest
Summary: Two decades ago, Dean Winchester was betrayed and left for dead by his own father. Now, the so-called Pirate King is poised to take revenge on the father who cast him out, and the brother who took his rightful place and has been living the high life. When Sam Winchester sets sail to collect a bride that he does not want, his journey is cut short and he finds himself at the mercy of a hard, bastard of a pirate who hates him and orders him to his bed. Inexplicably drawn to this mercurial and sometimes cruel man who holds the power of life or death over him, Sam walks a dangerous tightrope using everything in his arsenal to convince Dean to change course and see him as partner and ally rather than as his pawn and victim.

- Ridiculously sexy fic full of fantastic period details that really set the scene. This fic reads like a classic Regency romance: lots of fraught misunderstandings and passionate encounters.  I loved that Sam and Dean have the heightened reactions typical of serialized romances - every secret is a "betrayal", every miscommunication a cause for extreme drama.  And of course, equally empassioned are the declarations of undying devotion and loyalty (gorgeous schmoop). The story is accompanied by a fantastic portfolio of drool-worthy art/manips, the best of which strongly resemble the aforementioned Regency romances' lurid book covers.  I enjoyed this from start to finish!



Title: Account of the Progress of the Reformation of Manners on a Caribbean Voyage or The Boy in the Cherry Strip'd Dress
Author: tryfanstone 
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: non-con, bondage, spanking, forced indenture, cross-dressing
Summary: Jared is a pirate, Captain of his own ship. He comes across Jensen, kidnaps him and decides to keep him as his personal sex slave.

- This was written for a blindfold_spn prompt, and could have been just kinky smut (and that would have been just fine!)  It's still kinky, but the author manages to imbue a comment-fic with unexpected depth and creates a believable turnabout love story. An example of how an amazing author can make magic with whatever she has to hand.


Title: The Extroardinary Tale of Jensen's Heroic Exploits, and other stories
Author: daniomalley22
Pairing: Jensen/Jared
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: slavery, non-con and abuse (past), dub-con
Word Count:  19k
Summary: This fic was written for the following prompt: Jensen is a fierce pirate captain. When he raids a very wealthy ship, the captain escapes, but Jensen takes the captain's son Jared captive to be his 'cabin boy' but Jared is cripplingly shy and terrified around Jensen, and Jared seems unnervingly familiar with what's 'expected' of Cabin boys, considering he's a captain's son. Then Jensen, discovers scars on Jared's body - whip marks, burns etc. The crew release Jared isn't the son of the captain but his slave/whore and find he was shared round the ship. To Jared's amazement the crew treat him kindly and look after him, becoming friends with him. Jared and Jensen fall in love but then Jared's old 'master' reappears, wanting his 'property' back, but Jensen is determined to keep his love safe.


- Another fic written for a kink prompt (I guess pirates are just naturally kinky) that maybe didn't turn out quite as the prompter intended.  This is hurt/comfort heaven, with an insecure, suffering Jared who expects the harsh treatment he recieves at Jensen's hands, only to be utterly confused by the care and autonomy granted him after the pirates discover his prevous straits.  In the Sequel Jensen's growing tenderness and the unspoken acceptance of the ship's crew begin to give Jared the self-esteem he'd been denied for years and also the strength to understand his attraction to 'his' pirate captain.  The author takes the time to show the slow progression of Jared's healing, rather than just jumping into 'teh sex'.



Title: The Sea With Its Deepness
Author: zuben_eschamali
Pairing: J2
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 44.5k
Warnings: minor character death, past non-con
Summary: Captain Jensen Ackles was one of the most successful privateers in the Caribbean. Then he encountered the ship captained by the pirate Jared Padalecki, and nothing in his life would ever be the same. Featuring captive!Jensen, stranding on a desert island, ghosts (but no ghost ships), deep, dark caves, and more than one man hell-bent on revenge.


- This is one of those fics where, for me, trust in the author (or reccer!) is essential.  If the plot points were spelled out without elaboration - Jensen in a collar, held under the control of forceful captain Jared - I'd scroll on by, avoiding one of my personal squicks. But zuben_eschamali has such a way of subverting typical plot tropes and elevating them into something warm and completely human that I'd trust her fics past almost any potential warning (look at the Long Hard Ride verse, for instance).  The elements of supernatural adventure mostly serve as an enjoyable background for a burgeoning relationship being tentatively negotiated under less-than-opportune circumstances.  Ah, love! 


Title: The Crimson Prince
Author: caz2y5
Pairing: Dean/Castiel, Castiel/Meg, Dean/Alistair
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 33.5k
Warnings: torture, non-con, abuse of a minor (Dean is 16), crossdressing, kidnapping
Summary: The golden age of Piracy occurred in the later half of the 17th Century. Pirates were welcome in Port Royal for the influx in wealth and population that they brought with them. The most famous Pirate to sail the seven seas was the Crimson Prince. When the young James Castiel Novak finds out that his best friend Dean Campbell was killed by the Crimson Prince he vows that he will do anything in his power to avenge his friend’s death.

- I'm not a big D/C shipper, But sometimes I just love the AUs.  (I must admit, in this case, the mental images of Castiel in period tight breeches and laced shirt definitely add to the fic's appeal)  It's intriguing when you think that Dean's age in this story is not all that distant from the age of the narrator in Treasure Island, but the two tales are worlds apart in tone.   This reads the way one of those classic 'yarns' might, if only it were acknowledged that teenage boys and seafaring brutes alike are often at the mercy of their libidos - a 'Boy's Own Adventure', but with the all the darker, more serious parts left in, rather than glossed over or edited out.
Not to say that tender feeling doesn't win out in the end!